Quest for nature 14 2020 September, Volume 1, Issue 12 PRAKRITIPRAKRITI

Officers' Officers' Club CASFOS Dehradun P R A K R I T I, 14 SEPTEMBER, 2 0 2 0, V O L. I, I S S U E 12

FLORA OF THE WEEK

Gloriosa superba

Flame Lily

Identification:

This species is a perennial herb growing from a fleshy rhizome. It is scandent, climbing using modified leaf-tip tendrils, the stem reaching 4 m long. The leaves

are mainly alternately arranged, but they may be opposite, as well. They are somewhat lance-shaped and tipped with tendrils, and they are up 13 to 20 cm long.

The showy flower has six tepals each up to 5 to 7.6 cm long. They are generally bright red. The margins may be quite wavy. The six stamens also are long, up to 4

cm, and each bears a large anther at the tip that drops large amounts of yellow pollen. The style may be more than 6 cm long. The fruit is a fleshy capsule up to 6

to 12 cm long, containing red seeds.

Other Common Names: Climbing Lily, Creeping Lily, Glory Lily, Gloriosa Lily, Kingdom Plantae

Tiger Claw, and Fire Lily. Clade Tracheophytes

Ecology: Clade Angiosperms

Clade Monocots The plant likely is pollinated by butterflies and sunbirds. It grows in many types of Order Liliales habitat, including tropical jungles, forests, thickets, woodlands, grasslands, and sand Family Colchicaceae

dunes. It can grow in nutrient-poor soils. Genus Gloriosa It can be found at as high as 2,500 m in elevation. Species superba

Synonyms: Used in: Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Sowa Rigpa

Eugone superba Habit: Climber Gloriosa rothschildiana Distribution: A Paleotropic species found in Gloriosa simplex Africa, Madagascar, India to Indo-China and Gloriosa virescens Malesia. It is found throughout tropical India. This species is globally distributed in the Paleotropics. Gloriosa abyssinica Gloriosa carsonii Within India, it is found throughout the tropical region common in the moist deciduous forests. Gloriosa lutea

Medicinal Use:

The alkaloid -rich plant has long been used as a traditional medicine in many

cultures. It has been used in the treatment of gout, infertility, open wounds, snakebite, ulcers, arthritis, cholera, colic, kidney problems, typhus, itching, leprosy, bruises, sprains, hemorrhoids, cancer, impotence, nocturnal emission, smallpox,

sexually transmitted diseases, and many types of internal parasites. It is an anthelmintic. It has been used as a laxative and an alexiteric. The sap is used to treat acne and head lice. In a pregnant woman, it may cause abortion. In parts of India,

extracts of the rhizome are applied topically during childbirth to reduce labor pain.

Central Academy for State Forest Service Guided by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Photography & Compiled by: Ph: 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail: [email protected] Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club Naresh Chandra Patidar | SFS 2019 – 21| P1 P R A K R I T I, 14 SEPTEMBER 2 0 2 0, V O L. I, I S S U E12 FAUNA OF THE WEEK

Sus sucrofa

Wild Boar The Wild Boar is a medium-sized mammal with a large Reproduction and Development head and front end, that leads into a smaller hind. They have a thick and course double coat of fur, that consists Gestation period- 114-140 days of a harder, bristly top layer, with a softer undercoat Litter size- 4 to 6 Normal beneath it. The hair that runs along the ridge of the Wild 10-12 Maximum Boar's back is also longer than the rest. The colour of wild boar depends on location and varies from brown , Sexual maturity- 4 to 5Months to black, to dark red, to dark grey. The Wild Boar has Lifespan- 10 to 14 years in wild incredibly poor eyesight due to its very small-sized eyes and up to 20 years in captivity but they also have a long, straight snout which enables them to have an acute sense of smell.

AMAZING FACTS: WPA, 1972: Schedule III IIUCN Status: Least concern

WILD BOAR ARE NOCTURNAL WILD BOAR IS AN OMNIVORE Kingdom Animalia

SNOUT THAT IS USED FOR DIGGING OF UNDERGROUND ROOTS AND BULBS Phylum Chordata TUSKS IN MALES ARE LONGER AND CURVED. MALES POSSESS EXTRA TUSK ON THE UPPER LIP WHICH IS USED FOR SHARPENING OF THE Class Mammalia

LOWER TUSK MALES USE THEIR TUSKS FOR THE FIGHTS DURING THE MATING SEASON Order Artiodactyla WILD BOARS LIVE IN GROUPS CALLED SOUNDS OF SIZE 6-30 PIGLETS HAVE BROWN FUR, COVERED WITH CREAMY STRIPES SO THEY Family Suidae CAN CAMOUFLAGE IN DENSE VEGETATION

Genus Sus

ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR: Female Wild Boars are relatively sociable animals, inhabiting loose territories in groups known as sounders which can contain between 6 and 30 individuals. Sounders consist of breeding females and their young and can often be found in the same area as other groups, although the two tend not to mix. Males however, are solitary for the majority of the year, with the exception of during the breeding season when they can be found in close proximity of both the sounders, and indeed other males. Male Wild Boar competes with one another by fighting for the chance to mate with a female. Wild Boar are nocturnal animals that only come out at night to forage for food. They spend 12 hours sleeping in dense nest of leaves in day time.

Wild Pig, native to the forests of Europe, north-west Africa and it is also found throughout HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION: They live in a Asia. Wild Boar subspecies are ranging from 4 to 25. Naturally, it is hard to classify them variety of habitat but prefer grassy savanna areas, all as they can easily interbreed. wooded forests, agricultural areas, shrub lands and marshy swamplands. Overall, Wild boars live in areas The Wild Boar is the most widely distributed land mammal on Earth as its native range with a constant source of water and dense vegetative extends from Western Europe, right across to Japan to the east, and down to the rainforests cover to serve them as refuge from predators. of Indonesia in the south.

The Wild Boar is an omnivorous animal that primarily feeds on plants. Plant matter comprises around 90% of the Wild Boar's diet as they feed on young leaves, berries, grasses and fruits, and unearth roots and bulbs from the ground with their hard snouts. They will however, eat almost anything that will fit into their mouths, and supplement their

diet by eating eggs, Mice, Lizards, Worms and even Snakes.

Large felines such as Leopards, Lynx's and Tigers are amongst the most common predators of the Wild Boar, along with other large carnivores like Wolves and Bears, and also Humans.

Photography & Compiled by: Central Academy For State Forest Service Guided by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Omprakash Bidare | SFS 2019 – 21| P2 Ph : 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail : [email protected] Shri PradeepWahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club V V V a P R A K R I T I, 14 SEPTEMBER, 2 0 2 0, V O L. I, I S S U E 12 BIRD OF THE WEEK

Argya striata

Jungle Babbler

Identification: Reproduction:

This familiar ash-brown coloured babbler Lifespan (in captivity): 16.5 years has a yellow bill and a dark brow in front of Breeding Season: Throughout the year. Age at sexual maturity: 3 years the eye that contrasts with its pale eye giving Clutch: 3 to 4 eggs it a perpetual “angry” look. It has vague

streaking on the upperparts, diffuse mottling In northern India, birds breeding during on its throat, and barring on its tail. They are July–September tend to be parasitized often seen in noisy flocks hopping on the by the pied crested cuckoo and ground and flicking litter in search of food. sometimes by the common hawk-

cuckoo. Helpers assist the parents in feeding the young. Post fledging IUCN Status: Least Concern survival is very high.

Fun Facts: Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata Jungle babblers (Argya striata) are

gregarious birds that forage in small Class Aves groups of six to ten birds, a habit that has given them the popular name of Order Passeriformes

"Seven Sisters" in urban Northern Family Leiothrichidae India, and Saath bhai (seven brothers) in Bengali with cognates in other Genus Argya

regional languages which also mean Species striata "seven brothers".

Behavior and Ecology: Distribution:

These birds are gregarious and very The jungle babbler is a common resident breeding social. They feed mainly on insects, bird in most parts of the Indian subcontinent and is

but also eats grains, nectar and often seen in gardens within large cities as well as berries. The groups maintain territories and will defend it against in forested areas. In the past, the orange-billed babbler, Turdoides rufescens, of Sri Lanka was neighbors but will sometimes tolerate them. considered to be a subspecies of jungle babbler, but has now been elevated to a species. They breed throughout the year; with peak breeding in northern India being noted between March–April and July–September. Birds reach sexual Synonyms : maturity after their third year. The Turdoides striatus nest is built halfway in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four Malacocercus terricolor deep greenish blue eggs.

Cossyphus striatus Birds within a group often indulge in allopreening, play chases and mock Crateropus canorus fights. When threatened by predators, they have been said to sometimes Turdoides striata feign death.

Guided by: Central Academy for State Forest Service Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Photography & Compiled by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club Mani Shankar Mishra | SFS2019 – 21| P3 Ph: 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail: [email protected]